Standing Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta (Da Shizhi)

Gallery Text

In Mahayana Buddhism, bodhisattvas are countless in number. Scriptures identify a number of them by name and specify their particular powers. The small bottle, or vase, in this figure’s crown identifies this bodhisattva as the Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta, who embodies the power of wisdom. Although some Buddhist sculptures were created as stand-alone images, most were presented in sets; images of Mahasthamaprapta were typically paired with those of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, for example. In East Asia, this pair of bodhisattvas is generally associated with the Buddha Amitabha, who presides over the Western Pure Land, a place offering the ideal conditions for attaining awakening in a single lifetime.

Identification and Creation

Object Number: 1943.53.23
Title: Standing Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta (Da Shizhi)
Other Titles: Alternate Title: Ta Shi chih
Classification: Sculpture
Work Type: sculpture, figure
Date: c. 570
Places: Creation Place: East Asia, China, Hebei province
Period: Northern Qi, 550-577
Culture: Chinese
Persistent Link: https://hvrd.art/o/204141

Location

Location: Level 1, Room 1610, Buddhist Sculpture, Buddhism and Early East Asian Buddhist Art

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Physical Descriptions

Medium: White marble with polychromy
Dimensions: sculpture with attached circular base and tang (not visible): H. 104.1 x W. 25.4 x D. 15.9 cm (41 x 10 x 6 1/4 in.)
display dimensions (sculpture with separate lotus base): H. 117.2 x W. 31.8 x D. 30.5 cm (46 1/8 x 12 1/2 x 12 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History: Grenville L. Winthrop, New York (by 1943), bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop

Accession Year

1943

Object Number

1943.53.23

Division

Asian and Mediterranean Art

Contact

am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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Publication History

Osvald Sirén, Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, E. Benn (London, 1925), p. 89
Osvald Sirén, Chinese Sculpture from the Fifth to the Fourteenth Century, E. Benn (London, 1925), Pl. 331 A
Osvald Sirén, "Chinese Marble Sculptures of the Transition Period", Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities (Stockholm, Sweden, 1940), no. 12, pp. 473-496, plate VIII d
Lin Baoyao (or Lin Pao-yao), Sui Stone Sculptures of Budhisattva from Shanxi in the TOP Collection, Study of the Arts, Taipei National University of the Arts (Taipei, Taiwan, 2017), No. 32, p. 430, fig. 13 reproduced in b/w

Exhibition History

S426: Chinese Buddhist Cave Sculpture, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 10/20/1985 - 04/30/2008
32Q: 1610 Buddhist Art I, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu

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1943.53.23: Standing Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta (Da Shizhi)